Is Rey going to the Dark Side? That’s what Star Wars fans were left to ponder following the release of the second trailer for Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker yesterday (after its unveiling at D23 over the weekend). The final shot of the special look sees Rey dressed in a black, Sith-like robe while wielding a double-edged red lightsaber. That seems like it can only spell one thing, but have we maybe got the wrong end of the stick here?
That’s what Yahoo! Movies asked Daisy Ridley at the D23 Expo. Obviously, the actress is too much of a pro by now to give anything away, but she did seem to suggest that things actually are as they appear. “I mean, the evidence is on the screen,” Ridley teased. “Take that evidence as you will. But there’s no smoke without fire.”
Of course, fans have been busy coming up with ways to explain what we saw in the trailer. One popular theory is that it could be a Force illusion, similar to how Luke saw himself as Vader in the cave on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. Other ideas suggest this could be some kind of evil clone, perhaps created by Palpatine. Speaking of the Emperor, another idea is that this is Rey possessed by the villain. After all, this trailer and the first poster have doubled down on promising that Palpatine will be key to Episode IX.
Speaking more generally about Rise to Yahoo!, Ridley went on to promise that the movie wraps up not just the Sequel Trilogy but the whole Skywalker saga on a high. “Just wait and see what J.J. and [co-writer Chris Terrio] did,” said the star. “It’s really impressive how they wrapped it up altogether and hopefully [with] a fitting ending.”
The hype levels are certainly rising, but we’ve still got just under four months to go until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in cinemas on December 20th.
